Trump's Campaign Asks Rod Blum to Introduce Him at Iowa Event

Dubuque, Iowa — Donald Trump’s campaign has asked Iowa representative Rod Blum to introduce him at an as-yet-unannounced event here, National Review has learned.

Blum has not endorsed, and tells NR he has no intention to. “I’ve campaigned with almost all of them, I’ve been on stage with almost all of of them, and I’ll introduce all of them. But I’m not going to endorse anyone,” Blum says after an event with Senator Joni Ernst at Dubuque’s Veterans Freedom Center. 

Iowa’s senior senator, Chuck Grassley, introduced Trump earlier today at an event in Pella. Grassley, too, has vowed to remain neutral in the contest, and he did not endorse Trump. But his appearance raised eyebrows, coming just days after he knocked fellow Senator Ted Cruz, Trump’s major rival in Iowa, for his stance on ethanol-subsidizing Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). Iowa governor Terry Branstad first raised the issue of Cruz’s support for phasing out the RFS earlier this week, saying he hoped Cruz lost the state’s caucuses and suggesting his nomination would be “damaging” for the state. 

Asked about Branstad’s comments, Blum is noncommittal. “RFS is important, ethanol is very important to our state obviously, agriculture’s important, so I understand where he’s coming from,” Blum says. “But as Joni said, he’ll do what he wants to do.”

Ernst had similarly declined to engage on the subject earlier in the day. “The governor will do what the governor wants to do,” she told reporters. The RFS, she said, is ”an important issue, but what we’ll find is Iowa voters will align behind the person that shares the same values that they do, and they’ll look at those policies behind those candidates, and they’ll align with that candidate. That is one of many issues out there. National security is another issue. RFS is very important here in Iowa, so people may look at that as a decision point. [Or] it could be Medicare and Medicaid.”